The 1909 Monterrey hurricane was one of the deadliest Atlantic tropical cyclones on record, killing an estimated 4,000 people throughout Mexico. Originating from a tropical storm east of the Leeward Islands on August 20, the storm tracked west-northwest, entering the Caribbean as a minimal hurricane the next day. After striking Hispaniola on August 23, the hurricane made another landfall in eastern Cuba before reentering the Caribbean. Once back over open water, the storm intensified into a Category 3 hurricane and moved across the northern tip of the Yucatán Peninsula. By August 26, the storm had emerged into the Gulf of Mexico as a weakened, but regrouping system. It attained its peak winds of that evening. Maintaining this intensity, the system made landfall in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas late on August 27 and rapidly dissipated the following afternoon. Throughout its existence, the hurricane remained relatively close to land, so consequently its effects were felt in many areas. Much of the northern Caribbean received moderate to heavy rainfall along with gusty winds during its passage; although only Haiti reported damage from it. Its effects were far more severe in Mexico where an estimated 4,000 people were killed by record-breaking floods triggered by the hurricane. The city of Monterrey received the worst damage: more than half of the structures in the city were flooded, hundreds were destroyed, and 20,000 people were left homeless. Damage from the storm in the country was estimated to have exceeded $50 million (1909 USD; $ USD). Meteorological history The origins of the hurricane are uncertain due to a lack of ship reports in the western Atlantic Ocean. According to the Atlantic hurricane database, it was first identifiable as a tropical storm on August 20 to the east of the Leeward Islands. Tracking to the west-northwest, the storm quickly attained winds of , equivalent to Category 1 status on the modern-day Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale. By the evening of August 21, the storm entered the Caribbean as it brushed the northern coast of Guadeloupe; intensification of the hurricane over the northeastern Caribbean was slow. Early on August 23, it made its first landfall with winds of in San Cristóbal Province, Dominican Republic, just southwest of the country's capital city of Santo Domingo. The hurricane weakened slightly over the mountainous terrain of Hispaniola, although it is believed to have maintained winds of at least based on damage reports in Haiti.